MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 9.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were up 9.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $71.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00. MP Materials traded as high as $65.95 and last traded at $64.27. Approximately 18,690,811 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the average daily volume of 10,898,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.60.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $64.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total value of $10,803,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,284,409 shares in the company, valued at $92,503,136.18. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,020,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,360,000 after acquiring an additional 363,975 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $132,238,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,928,000 after buying an additional 378,510 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 168.4% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.52 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.92.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.